OK, repeat after me ...

Albertson's LLC announced plans Tuesday to reduce its grocery store chain by about 15 percent nationwide and it did this -- to use a food metaphor -- in courses. Instead of issuing one release out of the home office in Boise, Idaho, Albertson's sent out a separate release for each of its geographic divisions as soon as the employees had been informed of the plan. The odd thing? Every one of the division heads was credited with exactly the same quote to explain what was happening in their jurisdiction ("Concentrating our resources on a base of solidly performing stores will allow Albertsons to be more competitive and better serve the community"). It demonstrates a lack of faith in the division heads, we're thinking.